Exclusive Teen Titans Interview
by Zubby
Summary: Ten years after defeating Slade, Beast Boy and Robin reflect back on instant celebrity, grief, and the breakup of the Teen Titans. Written in interview format. Rated PG-13 for adult situations. Expect a surprise or two. Don't want to give it away here.


_Ten years ago, you couldn't pick up a newspaper or turn on the tv without seeing the Teen Titans. After a major battle in which arch villain Slade was defeated, they achieved instant celebrity status. Stopping Slade's rein of terror put them in the public eye, but right when they seemed about to take off to new heights, they announced the breakup of the group. Over the next decade, they have all kept out of the public eye, with the exception of Beast Boy, who enjoyed a modest film career before retiring from show business. _

_After maintaining a low profile for so long, I was surprised when Robin contacted me and offered an interview. What you are about to read is the first public appearance by any of the former Teen Titans in nearly six years. _

_The interview took place in the living room of the cottage that Robin and Beast Boy share. It's a sunny home, cozy and welcoming. On the mantle is a small framed snapshot of the five Teen Titans. This is the only reminder of Robin and Beast Boy's past that is evident. The cottage is in a rural area outside of a mid sized city on the west coast. It is surrounded by large plots of vegetable gardens; Beast Boy has developed an interest in organic gardening to meet the needs of his strict vegetarian diet. _

_Robin was always considered the handsome Teen Titan, and nothing has changed in that respect. Ten years after his last public appearance, his baby face has grown older, but he is as good looking as ever. He still covers his eyes with a mask, however. "Only Beast Boy gets to see them". Beast Boy still has his offbeat sense of humor, and a smile that can make you melt. Like Robin, he looks a few years older than he did when last in the public eye. His eyes, while bright and full of life, occasionally show flashes of past sadness. Where in the past Beast Boy had a cuddly-cute look, he is now a very sexy man. This interviewer found it hard, um, I mean difficult, to keep his eyes off of him!, _

_I found both Beast Boy and Robin to be friendly and outgoing, and surprisingly candid. Most of our conversation dealt with their post-Titan's lives. Events surrounding the final battle with Slade are already well documented in print._

_I started the interview with Robin; Beast Boy joined later after finishing some work in the garden._

__

_This cottage is beautiful, it's very different from Titans Tower. Do you miss living there?_

**Robin**: Titans Tower worked really well as a home and headquarters. It was a really conspicuous place, though. It was great living there at the time, but I prefer a quieter, more private lifestyle now. They finally got around to tearing the ruins of the tower down about three years ago. There's talk of making the land into a park and putting up some kind of monument.

_You must feel proud that your work is being recognized._

**R**: I have mixed feelings about it, actually. Recognition can cut both ways. It isn't always good and doesn't always come at a good time.

_You've kept yourself out of the public eye for several years. Why give an interview now?_

**R**: Ten years have passed since our last big battle and the break up of the Teen Titans. I know that there were lots of questions that went unanswered at the time, but life had become really insane. There was so much pressure on all of us, from so many different directions. It was just too much to deal with. What I needed, what we all needed, was to step out of the public eye and try to come to grips with it all and establish some sort of a normal life for ourselves. I feel like I've accomplished that now, and I can talk about the past more objectively.

_The Teen Titans disbanded right when you seemed to be at the peak of your powers. After defeating Slade, the attention you received made you all celebrities. Why did the Titans break up at that time_?

**R**: You're leaving some really important things out of that question, you know. It wasn't all fight, fight, fight then soak up adoration from the public. There was a lot of pain to deal with. After that final battle with Slade, the last thing any of us wanted was attention from the public. We needed to heal, to grieve, and figure out what to do next. All those interviews and tv appearances just prevented us from dealing with our feelings. But we let ourselves become celebrities, it felt better than dealing with all the pain. The media attention was the last straw, really. Things were bad enough already, being suddenly famous made it worse.

_You sound resentful about being a celebrity._

**R**: It gets in the way. Like I said, celebrity became an excuse to not do what needed to be done, that is, get on with life and make plans. Stepping out of the spotlight was the only way I could heal.

_What has your post-Titans life been like?_

**R**: The first couple of years were the hardest. FIguring out what to do with my life, facing adult responsibilities like earning a living when all I had ever done was fight crime, it was tough! I could have milked the celebrity for some income, but that just was not going to happen. Beast Boy did some of that of course. He had a bit of a career as a comedic actor for a couple of years. He made a few films. A lot of people thought his shape shifting was all CGI!

I kind of drifted from job to job for a while, but fighting crime is in my blood. I did some solo crime fighting before founding the Titan Academy. Now I fight crime in addition to my work at the Academy.

_What's the Titan Academy? I've never heard of it._

**R**: We're very secretive, that's why! We have to be for security reasons. The Titan Academy is a training school for potential crime fighters and super heroes. It's a small school, and our student body is all hand selected. We try to find mutants and others with special powers, but pupils with normal abilities and high potential are also enrolled.

_Have your students gone on to careers in crime fighting?_

** R**: The school is still pretty new, we just graduated our first class last year. Several of our graduates work in crime fighting, but it's not a job you see listed in the want ads. Some of our most successful graduates fell into their crime fighting jobs, by helping out at a crime scene or even stumbling onto some mischief in progress. We sent an intern over to Batman; she's now in training as a potential Robin. So that's kind of come full circle.

_What are the other Titans doing?_

**R**: Beast Boy lives with me, of course. That's the biggest surprise that came out of the whole Titans experience. I never expected to find the love of my life in that group. Hell, I didn't even know I was gay back then. For a while I thought I liked Starfire!

Beast Boy stopped acting several years ago, and now is a trainer at the Titan Academy and of course he fights crime too.

Raven is a successful artist. She paints under a different name, and wants her art career kept separate from her work as a crime fighter, so I'll respect that and not tell you the name she uses for her art.

Cyborg has a government job that he's not allowed to talk about. I'm not really sure what he does, but I would guess it has something to do with robotics.

_At this point in the interview, Beast Boy entered the room. He sat on the sofa next to Robin and snuggled up to him slightly, and the interview continued._

_Beast Boy, you appeared in a few films, and you probably could have built a career as an actor. I'm wondering how you got started as an actor, and why you gave it up when you seemed on the verge of success._

**BB**: When the Titans became celebrities after the big battle, offers of all sorts started pouring in. Movies, tv series, I even got an offer to do a dog food commercial as a dog! Yuck! Like I would ever advertise meat! I had never acted before, but at one point I thought Ôwhat the hell, I might as well try'. Acting is ok, it's actually pretty easy. I've been so many animals that it's second nature for me to assume different characters. But I don't like the lifestyle. Too much having to be seen in all the right places with the right people, too much ass-kissing. I like gardening better than acting, to tell the truth. At least when you pile on the fertilizer, you are rewarded with something good!

_So you left acting and returned to fighting crime?_

** BB**: Acting gave us a good income, but I just couldn't stop crime fighting. When I wasn't doing it, I longed for it. It's a lot more rewarding than acting. It just doesn't pay as well!

R: Fighting crime is more of a calling. It's not really a job. You do it because you have to, because some part of you knows that that's what you're supposed to be doing.

_How is solo crime fighting different than working as part of a team?_

**R**: The biggest difference is not having the skills of individual team members to back you up. With the Titans we could hit a villain relentlessly with any number of techniques they might not expect. You don't have that option when working alone, so you have to be very alert and pace yourself the best that you can.

**BB**: I miss the teamwork. Solo fighting isn't as much fun. Wouldn't want to live with a team again, however.

**R**: We all lived in the tower, and it was huge, but sometimes sharing space with the team made it seem very cramped. A lot of that was typical roommate stuff. Minor aggravations, things like that.

**BB**: Don't forget the raging hormones! I don't know how any of us survived that! The sexual tension was so thick sometimes it felt like you could cut it with a knife.

_Well, it seems to have worked out ok for you and Robin! How did you two hook up anyway?_

**BB**: Well, I...I had a really hard time for a while... after...

**R **(interrupting): Beast Boy received some serious injuries in the final battle with Slade.

**BB**: My leg was broken, I was cut badly and losing lots of blood. I couldn't get to Starfire in time. I was the closest one to her when she got the hit that killed her...

_Beast Boys voice trails off, and a single tear rolls down his cheek. He brushes it away, composes himself quickly, and continues._

I couldn't accept her death. Starfire was a pure soul, and the most positive, affirming person I have ever met. A couple of weeks after the battle, I got really depressed and didn't get out of bed for weeks.

**R**: It was a bad time for all of us. Cyborg was the first to leave, the morning after the battle. He said he was finished with crime fighting, and walked out. We didn't see or hear from him him again for over four years. At first I told the reporters he was on vacation.

The Titans were falling apart. I was falling apart. I sat for hours alone in the tower feeling sad and scared, putting on a happy face whenever the press came calling. Raven was unapproachable, she completely shut herself off from me. She would not speak, and spent her time meditating and reading.

**BB**: Dude, she was like that all the time!

**R**: This was different. She was grieving. I didn't know how to help her.

**BB**: You visited me everyday.

**R**: It's all I could think of to do. I couldn't let another Titan slip away from me. So I started taking care of Beast Boy.

**BB**: It had to have been horrible for Robin. I was in pain, physical pain and emotional pain, and sometimes felt like I wanted to die. I cried a lot, and wasn't my usual funny self.

** R**: I rather liked not hearing your jokes!

**BB**: You're joking, right?

**R**: I started spending more and more time in Beast Boy's room, trying to pull him out of his depression. Helping him was helping me as well. Somewhere during that time I realized my feelings for him were changing, and growing stronger. I was surprised, I didn't expect to feel that way about another guy.

**BB**: My feelings towards Robin were changing too. Actually, I had felt it for a long time, but hadn't told anyone. I knew I was gay, Terra helped me figure that out. And I always thought Robin was hot! So falling for him kind of made sense.

_So it was Robin helping you through this bad time that got you together?_

**BB**: Robin visited everyday, and stayed longer each time. He really helped me a lot. I don't know if I could have done it on my own. That made me like him even more, of course. One day, I was sitting up in bed, and Robin was sitting next to me. Without thinking, I just leaned over and kissed him.

**R**: That fist kiss was like a jolt of electricity through my entire body. Nothing had ever made me feel like that before. We've been together ever since. I guess the healing power of love really works!

**BB**: That's the sappiest thing I've ever heard!

_Aside from you two, how often do the former Teen Titans all see each other?_

**R**: Not that often, really. Right after the breakup, we didn't see each other for a few years. Now, we get together maybe once a year or so.

_Is there any truth to the rumors that you secretly reunite from time to time to fight villains?_

**R**: I can't confirm or deny that. Officially, the Teen Titans ceased operation ten years ago.

_There have been some credible witnesses claiming to have seen you fighting as a group..._

**BB**: There have been some credible witnesses claiming to have seen Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster too!

_Will the Teen Titans ever officially work together as a group again? _

**BB**: It would be silly to be the Teen Titans now, we're all in our twenties!

_You could call yourselves something else._

**BB**: Like drop the word teen and just be the Titans.

**R**: It would be different now. Better in some ways, I think. We're all more emotionally stable now, and more mature. There wouldn't be as many petty jealousies.

**BB**: And no more constant horniness making it hard to concentrate. I'm only horny about 75% of the time now, it's much better!

**R**: We did work well as a team. An older, wiser Titans working openly might not be a bad thing. Something to think about, I guess.


End file.
